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Many ways to register, but how many will turn out to vote?

John Curtice

March 13 2013, 12:01am, The Times

The Edinburgh Agreement between the Scottish and UK governments gave Alex Salmond the right to give those aged 16 and 17 a referendum vote. However, it also left him the task of working out how to make it happen.

Yesterday the SNP revealed how they would overcome the first major obstacle — compiling a register of all 16 and 17-year-olds. Electoral registration is reserved to Westminster and the Edinburgh Agreement does not give the Scottish government any right to interfere on that front.

However, the First Minister’s resulting headache is not quite as big as might be imagined. The registration form sent out to every household each year already asks for the details of everyone aged 16 and over on the day the form is…